


let’s never go sledding again

by joisattempting



Series: look over there it's a wild falsettos college au [14]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Hospitals, Light Angst, Sledding, Snow, Snow Day, but alas i failed, can we get an f in the chat for mendel’s sled, ew sorry, flangst, i fuckin love them, i tried to write this in under 2000 words again, mendel likes orange, the others are mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21823294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joisattempting/pseuds/joisattempting
Summary: accidents happen when mendel and trina go sledding.
Relationships: Trina/Mendel Weisenbachfeld
Series: look over there it's a wild falsettos college au [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1518932
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	let’s never go sledding again

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! i’m sorry about the wait, but i’m here and i have some trindel! my fics are getting longer i’m sorry i try to fix it but what can ya do
> 
> i had a good time writing this (trindel is so fun?) so i hope you enjoy reading it <3 
> 
> but before i go, i just wanna say that i’ve been having second thoughts about this series. idk, i’m a little nervous that it’s either getting boring or i’m doing something wrong, and so i’m lacking motivation. if that’s the case, pls let me know how i can improve :)
> 
> anywho, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated, thank you for reading!!
> 
> tw : hospitals, broken bones

Trina Aronowitz was scared of a plethora of things. Horses, bugs, horror movies, a select few kinds of loud noises. She’d always squeal when her older sister solemnly told her harrowing, fictional tales as they sat in their shared bedroom, the only source of light being the older girl’s torch, casting a ghostly light across her features. In high school, she always gasped when Charlotte would take her by surprise and grab her shoulders as she was retrieving her books from her locker. Even now, as twenty-year-old adults, her friends still frequently used her trait of being practically petrified of nearly everything to their advantage. The night Mendel had run into her pitch-black dorm room, half naked and holding an unlit Yankee candle still scarred her. She’d screamed bloody murder until the RA had to poke his head in the door, bedhead prominent, and tell them to shut up. 

She wagered she’d have to add sledding to her list after this experience.

Chewing on her chapped lip, the English major dared a glance down below her, at the giddy children throwing snowballs at vexed parents. Her and Mendel were decently high off the ground, perched on the wooden sled he’d owned since the age of twelve. How that thing wasn’t firewood at this point, Trina didn’t know. Anne-Marie had pointed them in the direction of a small range of snow-capped hills just north of the park, where Whizzer had gone sledding with his siblings as a kid. A bright grin on his face, Mendel had taken up his sled and Trina’s hand, proceeding to drag her over to the hills. She’d almost chickened out, but that guy could be extremely persuasive when he wanted to be. After all, he was on the debate team when he was sixteen. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that they were currently squashed together on a sled meant for preteens, at the top of the highest hill out of the ones Anne-Marie pointed out. 

“Are y-you sure this is s-safe, Mendel?” Trina piped, her nervous stutter coming to the fore. 

“Relax, I used to do this all the time,” the man replied, looking over his shoulder to smile at her. His gaze lingered on her perturbed face for a second longer than it should have. If he was being honest, he could stare at her forever. Constantly he longed for the tingle in his stomach and the sensational numb feeling he got whenever he looked at her, like an addict would opium. He relished in the moment when his fingers trembled on seeing her satisfied smile after finishing an essay, or when sunbeams seemed to radiate from her body the second those dimples appeared on her gaunt cheeks. Mendel always kept his eyes peeled for those, but tried to make them appear more often, for they only surfaced if she was really, truly happy. 

The petrified expression she wore made bombs of culpability explode all over his body. 

“Just hold onto me,” he tried to reassure her, ignoring the horrible feelings brewing in the pit of his stomach. “Don’t worry about it,”

Sighing, Trina relented. Her heart hammered as she shifted forward in her awkward seat on the sled, snaking her arms around her friend’s middle. In any other situation, she’d grin lazily and rest her head on his shoulder, but her mind was racing too quickly to feed her romantic desires. Gripping Mendel’s torso like a vice, Trina kept her eyes trained on the bottom of the mountain as the psych major pushed off the ground with his foot. And off they went.

They dropped onto the slanting slope, picking up speed with every second. Mendel laughed heartily, the tassels of his orange hat drifting in the cold breeze. Behind him, Trina squinted as small flecks of snow sprayed upwards, sprinkling onto her face. She never once let go of Mendel, just loosened her grip a little. And she had to admit, the feeling of the wind in her short hair wasn’t exactly terrible. Especially not when she was with Mendel, who still screamed and shouted. If people were looking, he didn’t seem to care. It was somewhat hard to tell, racing down the hill at breakneck speed. However, Trina found that their surroundings seemed to disintegrate as Mendel sent her a beaming smile over his shoulder. 

“See? This isn’t that bad,” Mendel said. 

Giggling, Trina tightened her grip on the man’s stomach. Not out of fear, however. “I guess not. You proved me wrong, Mendel Joseph Weisenbachfeld. That doesn’t happen often,”

The psych major raised his eyebrows. “That’s a dirty, rotten lie,”

“How poetic of you. Shakespeare’s been real quiet,”

“Fuck yeah he has. Shakespeare hangs his head in shame at my poetic-ness,”

“Whatever makes you sleep at night,”

It was then that Trina realised something that could put their entire sledding adventure in jeopardy. Her eyes went wide again, and she could feel her fingers digging into Mendel’s ugly dreidel sweater. “Mendel, watch out for the-”

“Huh?” 

The girl only grew more panicked. “Swerve left! You’re gonna hit the-”

“You’re gonna have to speak up, Trina, I can’t-”

They never found out what he couldn’t do, because without warning, the ancient wooden sled slammed into a thick spruce tree. Trina felt the planks strain and crack under the weight of both Mendel and herself, and quickly she wrapped both arms around her midsection in a pointless attempt at protecting her unborn child. By some miracle of God, she landed on her rear end in the snow. As far as she knew, the only parts of her that had been bruised were her backside and her dignity. Exhaling in relief, she brushed the specks of snow off her jumper and craned her neck in the hopes of seeing Mendel, but found only vast acres of white surrounding her. 

Blood churned in her ears. “Mendel!” she screamed, over and over until her voice went hoarse. The only response she got was her own quivering voice echoing through the hills. 

And that was when she heard the scream. 

Sweat trickled down the girl’s forehead, despite the weather. She tried to scramble to her feet, but it felt like she’d been spinning in circles. All of a sudden, Trina was standing on the sky as she broke into a feeble run downhill, all the while calling Mendel’s name and whispering some sort of prayer. A million thoughts filled her head as she jogged further down, following the direction she wagered the scream had originated from. God knew she’d be left gaping and clueless if he was hurt; neither of them knew the whereabouts of the others. And this was Omaha. Trina couldn’t very well take him to a doctor, because, quite simply, she didn’t know the city. The nearest hospital could be miles away. Fuck, she needed to stop. Thinking about all that would only increase her fear. And she wanted to stay as calm as she could. Which, in all honesty, wasn’t very calm at all. 

By the time she’d found him (after nearly tripping over his limp body), she was three-quarters of the way downhill. Immediately, she dropped to her knees. She didn’t think that the rate her pulse raced at was healthy. Mendel lay on his back in the snow, his hat falling lopsided across his shaggy black curls. His features were contorted into an expression of unbearable pain, and his brown eyes were squeezed tight shut. With every ounce of her being, Trina wished that there was some way to transmit all his agony and suffering onto her. He wasn’t shouting anymore, rather just hissing in torment and letting out the occasional pained grunt or groan, but somehow, that was even worse. Both hands clutched at his left leg, which seemed to be swelling like a lemon. That gave Trina a painful notion as to what was causing him to scrunch his face up and grit his teeth. 

“W-what happened?” was all she managed to get out. 

“I guess I kinda...hit the tree? And then, uh, I fell. Bad,” Mendel grunted in response. “It hurts, Trin. It hurts like a bitch,”

Despite her hoarse voice and sore throat, Trina yelled into the day like a yodeler did the hills. With each yelp, her voice increased in volume and desperation, hoping that someone they knew would come to their aid. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she dialled the first number she could think of. Cordelia’s. And then, she started to pray again. 

Five minutes felt like five hours. The six of them, plus Abigail and Anne-Marie, all congregated on the hill, frantically trying to come to a decision. Charlotte wouldn’t let anyone breathe, giving orders and rattling off medical facts. Marvin looked apprehensive as he slung his best friend’s arm over his shoulder. It was clear that he was trying not to show it, but the law student most certainly looked conflicted. Seeing the guy that had put up with his neurotic behaviour since they were five in that much agony seemed to toy with his brain, his expression solemn as the group commenced their descent down the remainder of the mountain. An incredulous Whizzer took the other arm. Everyone pushed and shoved for a seat in the Audi, Trina in the trunk beside the mostly-silent Mendel. All Trina could do was fidget as Anne-Marie swerved left and right, on the verge of one of her notorious road rages. But she seemed to know that now was definitely not the time. The students did their best to console Mendel, Trina and Marvin in particular. 

“We’re a-almost there,” Trina kept saying, but her words fell on deaf ears. Her mind was going into overdrive, all the panicked chatter taking place in the car distorting into a low, incessant buzz in her pounding ears. Only a broken leg, Charlotte had told them, though it had been hard to understand her words due to the pace she spoke at. Trina had no choice but to believe her. The med student’s judgement was far better than her own. Moreover, she’d never broken anything herself, her doting parents ensuring that. All she knew was that ‘only’ a broken bone seemed like an understatement. 

The second they had skidded into the parking lot, the group made a beeline for the metal automatic doors. The two older women took the lead from there, one of them explaining the problem to a baffled receptionist and the other remaining by Mendel’s side, even snapping at a nurse after not being allowed to go in with the man. As much as Trina wanted to hold his hand as his blood pressure was checked, she had her own thoughts to collect. Cordelia, sensing this, leaned over. 

“Hey, it’ll be okay. Mendel’s a strong guy,” she said. “Mentally. Did you really think I said Mendel was strong physically? The guy can’t open a water bottle,” the blonde added, on seeing Trina’s quirked eyebrow.

“I don’t know, Dee. I know he’ll be better in a few weeks, but I guess I’m just scared. He looked so hurt,” the other girl mumbled, not meeting Cordelia’s blue gaze. 

“Trina Aronowitz?” a female voice said. Swiping at her eyes, Trina lifted her head to find a young nurse with slicked ginger hair. “Mendel Weisenbachfeld wanted me to bring you in,” 

Staring at the linoleum, Trina fingered a strand of hair as she followed the nurse’s footsteps. They turned a corner, stopping at a grey door. She shuffled inside, plucking at a rogue piece of fluff on her sweater. The first thing she saw when she entered was the bright orange cast that her friend’s leg was encased in. Despite the grave ambience surrounding the room, Trina chuckled. “You seriously asked them for an orange cast?” 

“Well, I wasn’t about to leave it plain. That’s fucking boring,” Mendel said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

She rolled her eyes, scanning the room for a pen. Grabbing a marker from the doctor’s empty desk, Trina hopped up onto the examination table beside Mendel. Uncapping the pen, she held the lid between her teeth and gently hoisted his leg into her lap. “TRINA” was what she wrote, in large letters down the side. “There. Now it’s much nicer to look at. But let’s make an agreement, yeah?”

“And what’s that?” the man grinned. 

“Let’s never go sledding again,”


End file.
